Content provided in partnership with
Tutass' star keeps rising at El Cerrito
Oakland Tribune, Oct 21, 2005 by David Schoen, STAFF WRITER
EL CERRITO -- Don Miguel Tutass has a pretty impressive and lengthy rsum.
-The junior at El Cerrito High is a two-time, first-team All- Alameda Contra Costa Athletic League selection in volleyball and was the league MVP as a sophomore.
-He is a second-degree brown belt in judo -- a sport he started participating in when he was in kindergarten -- and won titles at the Junior Olympics and national championships.
-He is scuba and lifeguard certified.
Oh yeah, he's a pretty darn good quarterback, too. So good, in fact, that Tutass is the only freshman in school history to start at quarterback for the Gauchos' varsity.
- Most Popular Articles in News
- The Ten Best Laptop bags
- Tata plans cheapest-ever car for Indian market
- GLOBALIZATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT OF THE THIRD WORLD
- Corn is good for you; Corn is not only a tasty treat, but also a cereal that ...
- THE 50 BEST STYLISH HANDBAGS TO CARRY
- More »
"He's very talented," El Cerrito coach George Austin said of the 6-foot-1, 160-pounder, who leads El Cerrito (4-2 overall, 2-1 ACCAL) into today's 5 p.m. league game against visiting Richmond (2-4, 0- 3). "He's our inspirational leader. Without him, we're in trouble."
Tutass started playing quarterback for the West County Spartans as a seventh-grader and began his ninth-grade year with El Cerrito's junior varsity squad. Midway through the season, Austin, who saw a tape of Tutass tossing a much-larger opponent in a judo competition, brought him up to varsity.
"When I grabbed him off the JV team, a lot of people asked, 'What are you doing?'" Austin said. "I said, 'I see something in the guy.' He's a football player and a leader."
Tutass was named the starter soon after and went on to lead the Gauchos to a 7-3-1 record and a spot in the North Coast Section 2-A playoffs.
"It helped my maturity for sure. I wasyoung and I had to play to the level and mind-set of those players," Tutass said. "I got plenty of experience, and that's what has gotten me to where I am right now."
After throwing for 1,021 yards and eight touchdowns as a sophomore, Tutass has come back even better this season. In six games, he has completed nearly 52 percent of his passes for 852 yards with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions -- all of the picks came in back-to-back games against Jesse Bethel and De Anza.
"In the first game, I wanted to make a name for myself against Kennedy," said Tutass, who completed 8 of 9 passes for 205 yards and four TDs in the 46-6 win. "The next week after that against St. Mary's, it started to go to my head a little bit. Against Bethel, it went to my head a little more.
"I'm definitely starting to settle down and I'm used to the (offensive) line now. The touchdowns will start rolling in from now on."
Tutass has already received letters from several Division I schools and is tutored by former Cal coach Roger Theder, who believes Tutass has the potential to be one of the top quarterbacks in the area from the Class of 2007.
"I think Miguel is a kid, as a young freshman, who was pretty advanced," Theder said. "One thing he does have is he's very bright. He picks up things very fast. The other thing I'm always looking for is a quick release and Miguel has that. ... He's one of the guys people ought to be looking at for next year."
While Tutass excels at quarterback, his first love on the football field is actually defense. Against Alameda on Oct. 7, Austin finally let Tutass play cornerback, and his future could be on that side of the ball.
Regardless, Tutass is just hoping to continue his career somewhere.
"I would love to go as far with this as I can. It's a sport I love to play," Tutass said. "I don't care where I end up as long as I get to play it."
c2005 ANG Newspapers. Cannot be used or repurposed without prior
written permission.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
